The invention relates generally to a fishing diver or sinker for carrying bait or a lure down to deeper depths of water when trolling, and more particularly, pertains to a fishing diver having a tripping device with latched and released conditions.
The invention provides a diver which is clamped to a fishing line extending therethrough. In the latched condition, the diver is locked onto the line. In the unlatched condition, the diver may freely slide along the line. When the fish bites, the latch trips, and the line slides freely through the diver, whereby the fish need not pull the diver along with it, which otherwise may result in increased line breakage.
The line length between the diver and the fish is adjustable, which may be desirable for differing locales or for certain types of fish. Regardless of the line length between the diver and the fish, when the fish bites and the latch is released, the fish is directly reeled in and netted because the trolling line extends through the diver and is also the baiting line. In contrast, if a first trolling line is tied to the front of the diver, and a second separate baiting line is tied to the rear of the diver, the length of the baiting line cannot be greater than the length of the fishing pole, otherwise the fish cannot be netted when reeled all the way in. This maximum limit on the length of the bait line may be undesirable.
The present invention relates to an improvement in U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,622 issued Jan. 25, 2000, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In that patent, a fishing diver having a tripping device includes a diving plane having a forward end and a rearward end, and guide structure on the diving plane for guiding a fishing line, one end of the line extending to a baiting lure or the like and the other end of the line being reelable for trolling. The diver includes a releasable latch member on the diving plane having a latched condition clamping the diving plane to the line such that upon trolling, the diver dives from downwardly at an angle to the trolling line. The latch member has a released condition responsive to the strike of a fish on the lure unclamping the diving plane from the line and enabling the diving plane to slide along the line in the trolling direction. The latch member includes a pivoted latch arm, a front upstanding tab on the forward end of the diving plane pivotably mounting the latch arm and also guiding the line rearwardly through the tab. The latch arm has an eyelet at the end thereof opposite the front tab, the line extending through the eyelet, then through the front tab. A protective sleeve in the form of an elongated coil spring encircles the line and extends rearwardly of the front tab, and then through and beyond the eyelet such that an inside surface of the spring provides an increase surface for the line in the vicinity of the eyelet whereby to minimize the line breakage. The latch arm in the latched condition is pivoted rearwardly and frictionally held by gripper jaws along a central portion of the latch arm between the eyelet end and the pivotally mounted end. A screw passes through the gripper jaws to adjust the frictional retaining force of the latch arm in the jaws in the latched condition.
The above described '622 patent generally provides an effective fishing diver design to minimize line breakage in both the latched and released conditions of the latch arm. However, it has been discovered that if the frictional retaining force on the latch arm is improperly set, problems may arise. For example, if the frictional retaining force is too light, such as when trolling for smaller fish, the force of the water acting on the diving plane may prematurely trip the diver to its released condition before a fish is caught. If the frictional retaining force is set too high, smaller fish may be caught and dragged along on the lure indefinitely without reaching the released condition. In this latter condition, not only is the fishing person unaware of a fish on the line, but also the presence of the fish being dragged along on the lure tends to deter other fish from lures on adjacent lines in the water.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a fishing diver which remedies these problems and enables greater fishing efficiency.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide an enhanced fishing diver having two separate, but cooperating tripping devices. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a fishing diver having a protective, flexible sleeve which surrounds a portion of the fishing line in a manner which will minimize line breakage. Another object of the present invention is to provide a fishing diver provided with an enhanced latch arrangement which is secured to variously-shaped diving planes. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a fishing diver which is economical to manufacture and operates generally similarly to prior art fishing divers. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a fishing diver with tripping devices having an indexing arrangement used in line tensioning.
In one aspect of the invention, a fishing diver includes a diving plane and guide structure on the diving plane for guiding a fishing line along the plane of the diving plane through the guide structure. One end of the line extends to a baiting lure and the other end of the line is reelable for trolling. The fishing diver also includes a releasable latch structure on the diving plane having a latched condition clamping the diving plane to the line such that upon trolling, the diver dives downwardly at an angle to the line. The latch structure also has a released condition unclamping the diving plane from the line, the line through the guide structure extending substantially parallel to the plane of the diving plane in the released condition of the latch structure. The latch structure includes an eyelet guiding the other end of the line therethrough and forwardly to the guide means. The invention is improved by a releasable tripping structure associated and engageable with the releasable latch structure. The tripping structure has a latched condition engageable with the fishing line extending from the guide structure, and a released condition responsive to the strike of a fish on the lure for causing the latch structure to reach its released condition and provide free sliding passage of the line through the guide structure.
The latch structure has one force adjusting device for establishing a releasable force for its released condition, and the tripping structure has another force adjusting device for establishing another release force for its released condition. The tripping structure includes an eyelet having an extension frictionally and slidably received in a tubular latch arm pivotable about the latch structure. The tubular latch arm of the tripping structure includes an inner end pivotable about the one force adjusting device and engageable with a latch arm fixed to the eyelet of the latch structure. A deformable sleeve is disposed in the eyelet of the latch structure for surrounding the line and preventing the line from coming into contact with the eyelet of the latch structure.
In another aspect of the invention, a fishing diver includes a diving plane having a forward end and a rearward end. A guide structure is provided on the diving plane for guiding a fishing line, one end of the line extending to a baiting lure and the other end of the line being reelable for trolling. A first releasable tripping structure is provided on the diving plane having a first force adjusting screw and a latched condition clamping the diving plane to the line such that upon trolling, the diver dives downwardly at an angle to the line. The first tripping structure has a released condition unclamping the diving plane to slide along the line in a trolling direction. The tripping structure includes a first pivoted latch arm, and a front upstanding tab on the forward end of the diving plane pivotally mounting the first latch arm and also guiding the line rearwardly through the tab. The first latch arm has a first eyelet at the end thereof opposite the front tab, the line extending through the first eyelet, then through the front tab. A second releasable tripping structure is connected to and engageable with the first releasable tripping structure. The second tripping structure has a second force adjusting screw and a second pivoted latch arm pivotable about the first force adjusting screw, and provided with a second eyelet engageable with the fishing line in a latched condition. The second tripping structure has a released condition responsive to the strike of a fish on the lure for causing engagement of the second latch arm with the first latch arm and providing free sliding passage of the line through the guide structure.
The second eyelet is adjustable on the second latch arm. The second latch arm is tubular and the second eyelet has an extension frictionally received and retained in the tubular second latch arm. The second latch arm has a curved end opposite the second eyelet that is pivotable about the first force adjusting screw and engageable with an underside of the first latch arm. The first tripping structure includes a first pair of spaced gripper jaws extending upwardly on a forward end of the diving plane, and the second tripping structure includes a second pair of spaced gripper jaws extending rearwardly from the first pair of gripper jaws. The second eyelet includes a rubber grommet. A deformable sleeve is disposed in the first eyelet for surrounding the line and preventing the line from coming into contact with the first eyelet as the line passes therethrough to minimize breakage of the line thereat. The sleeve is defined by an elongated spring. In the latched condition, the second latch arm is frictionally held by the second pair of gripper jaws at an acute angle relative to the diving plane. In the released condition, the second latch arm pivots downwardly out of frictional engagement with the second pair of gripper jaws and extends along the diving plane. The first force adjusting screw passes through the first pair of gripper jaws, and the second force adjusting screw passes through the second pair of gripper jaws. Turning of the first and second force adjusting screws enable different levels of frictional retension of the first latch arm and the first pair of gripper jaws and the second latch arm and the second pair of gripper jaws.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a fishing diver includes a diving plane having a forward end and a rearward end. A guide structure on the diving plane is provided for guiding a fishing line, one end of the line extending to a baiting lure and the other end of the line being reelable for trolling. A first releasable tripping structure is provided on the diving plane having a first force adjusting screw and a latched condition clamping the diving plane to the line such that upon trolling, the diver dives downwardly at an angle to the line. A first tripping structure has a released condition unclamping the diving plane to slide along the line in a trolling direction. The first tripping structure includes a first pivoted latch arm, and a front upstanding tab on the forward end of the diving plane pivotally mounting the first latch arm and also guiding the line rearwardly through the tab. The first latch arm has a first eyelet at the end thereof opposite the front tab, the line extending through the first eyelet and then through the front tab. A second releasable tripping structure is connected to and engageable with the first releasable tripping structure. The second tripping structure has a second force adjusting screw and a second pivoted latch arm pivotable about the first force adjusting screw, and provided with a second eyelet engageable with the fishing line in a latch condition. The second tripping structure has a released condition responsive to the strike of a fish on the lure for causing engagement of the second latch arm with the first latch arm and providing free sliding passage of the lure through the guide structure. A protective sleeve in the form of an elongated coil spring encircles the line and extends rearwardly of the front tab, and then passes through and beyond the first eyelet such that an inside surface of the spring defines an increased surface area for the line in the vicinity of the first eyelet whereby to minimize line breakage.
In still another aspect of the invention, a fishing device includes a guide device on the plane for guiding a fishing line along a surface of the plane through the guide device with one end of the line extending to a baiting lure, and the other end of the line being reelable for trolling. At least one releasable tripping device is provided on the plane having a pair of jaws spaced by a gap adjusted by a force adjusting screw. A pivoted latch arm is frictionally retained by the jaws and designed to guide the fishing line. Turning of the force adjusting screw creates different levels of frictional tension of the latch arm in the jaws to establish a desired tensioning on the line. The tripping device has a latched condition clamping the plane to the fishing line, and a released condition responsive to the strike of a fish on the line for unclamping the fishing line and providing free sliding passage of the fishing line through the guide device.
The invention is improved by an indexing arrangement provided on at least one of the jaws and at least partially surrounding a hole in the jaw receiving the force adjusting screw. The indexing arrangement defines a standard of reference used in recording a rotary position of the force adjusting screw when it is turned to establish tensioning. In the preferred embodiment, the indexing arrangement includes a series of index elements on one of the jaws extending radially outwardly from a periphery of a hole in the jaw receiving the force adjusting screw.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.